


Test Flight

by Fairleigh



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Fix-It, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-10
Updated: 2019-02-10
Packaged: 2019-10-03 01:15:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17274332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fairleigh/pseuds/Fairleigh
Summary: Cassian Andor and Paige Tico learn from each other and find happiness together.





	Test Flight

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ashling](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ashling/gifts).



He was probably the better shot; that was easy enough for both of them to admit. But Paige Tico was far and away the better pilot, and she took endless delight in making absolutely certain that he was never, _ever_ going to forget it.

“You do realize, don’t you,” Cassian groused as he yanked the ancient starfighter out of a balletic, spiraling freefall, “that these rust buckets were considered scrap even when _I_ was a kid?”  

Paige just laughed, safety harness digging sharply into her shoulders, as the extreme g-forces did their level best to knock her out of her gunner’s seat. She took a shot at a practice target as they whizzed by — yesss, bullseye! “Droid support has made you soft, old man!”

The ribbing was all in good-natured fun. Truth be told, the two of them enjoyed practicing on balky, recalcitrant machines like this one. No astromech support provision meant that you lived and died with only yourself and your partner to rely upon, and the two-seater configuration — one pilot, one gunner — was excellent for honing teamwork skills. Paige had lost count long ago of how many practice runs they’d completed together. She and Cassian had so much to learn from each other.

And, besides which, they relished being in each other’s company.

“Droids are people, too,” Cassian retorted.

Paige took a shot at another practice target but only managed to clip a corner — darn it! Why’d he have to choose _that_ particular moment to distract her?!  

One of Cassian’s best friends had been a droid, and he still missed him, Paige knew. Instead of pressing on an old wound, she decided to change the subject. “Yeah, well, you never know when having an extra seat instead of a droid socket might come in handy. They say Luke Skywalker himself used one of these ‘rust buckets’ in a mid-aerial rescue!”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You just made that up.”

“Maybe.” Oh dear, and now Cassian was the one being sloppy! “Woah, check your approach vector!” Paige admonished him urgently. “You’re about to overshoot the rendezvous — ”

~*~*~

Technically speaking, Cassian Andor, born in the waning days of the Old Republic, was old enough to be Paige’s father. Realistically speaking, however, he’d been in bacta stasis coma on an Alderaanian medcruiser for the better part of three decades, so that when he finally did awaken, he had hardly more years of actual lived experience under his utility belt than Paige herself. And biologically speaking, of course, his youth had been frozen in time during the long, slow process required to heal his body. That particular minor miracle of modern technology went practically without saying.

Healing Cassian’s mind had taken rather longer. Although he’d been recovered alive — barely — from the wreckage of the Battle of Scarif, none of the other valiant individuals who’d flown with the legendary Rogue One had been so fortunate. Grieving for his friends and comrades-at-arms was difficult, and Cassian himself readily admitted he wasn’t always especially good at it. But let’s be real: It wasn’t exactly easy to awaken to discover that the galactic freedom you’d fought so long and hard for was again under perilous threat.

To his eternal credit, though, he hadn’t just walked away. He could have. Stars knew General Organa would not have faulted him if he had chosen that path. A quiet life was the least he deserved after everything he’d been through. But instead, he went straight back to work for the Resistance. He had vast experience with intelligence gathering and espionage, after all, and he was a crack shot with a blaster rifle.

That was how he’d met Paige Tico. They’d both been putting in extra practice hours at the shooting range.

~*~*~

Paige had moved into Cassian’s officer’s quarters six months ago. Her little sister Rose had teased her relentlessly about their relationship, which was already open secret if ever there was such a thing, but privacy that didn’t involve being strapped into the seats of their ancient starfighter’s cockpit was rather hard to come by at the Resistance headquarters on D’Qar. She cherished each and every moment.

“How come _I_ get the wet spot? Didn’t I get it last time, too?” Cassian whined into Paige’s ear as they snuggled, boneless, sweaty, and replete from their latest lovemaking session.

“I didn’t miss any of my targets, but _someone_ overshot their last rendezvous point. That someone needs to learn from his mistakes _somehow_ ,” Paige replied, not bothering to conceal the smugness in her voice. “Therefore, your ass gets the wet spot. Consider it another learning experience.”

Besides, it was a very nice ass. It would survive.

Cassian huffed with mock outrage but accepted her reasoning without further protest. He fingered the Otomok medallion around Paige’s neck; they both knew what it meant to her. “Learning subroutines successfully uploaded. Installation in progress. I promise it won’t happen again.”

“Hmph! It better not. Someday, scoring a perfect ten on a test flight might count.”

“Maybe.”

They lay together in silence for a while, dozing, enjoying the simple fact of their being together. Unfortunately, Paige couldn’t quite silence the worries in her head. Practice runs hadn’t been sufficient distraction. Neither had sex.

“The mission to destroy Starkiller Base … do you think … do you think they succeeded?” she asked Cassian, anxiety undisguised. “Or … or, do you think — ?”

In the end, she never got a chance to finish asking that question because the base’s emergency klaxon began to sound, interrupting her mid-sentence. It was to be a full-scale evacuation. The First Order had discovered where the Resistance was hiding.

The First Order was coming, and both Paige and Cassian would have their parts to play.

~*~*~

Paige depressed the trigger button and watched the bombs slide off their racks, drawn magnetically down toward the distant surface of the Dreadnought, clutching her medallion as her bomber shuddered, lost power, and began its final plummet into the fiery ruin below —

She closed her eyes, ready for the pain, unafraid of sudden death by fire, by the vacuum of space. She would welcome death as a friend —

And death did come to her as a friend, a beloved friend’s hand, pulling her away from the inferno —

“Ha! Gotcha!”

And Paige collapsed awkwardly into the familiar gunner’s seat of an ancient starfighter.

“See? See?! Told you I was learning! I didn’t overshoot when it counted!” Cassian crowed as they veered at maximum sublight speed away from the ruins of the doomed Dreadnought. Seconds later, they made the jump to hyperspeed.

Eventually, Paige was sure, there would be questions and recriminations and too many deaths on their collective consciences to grieve, but for now? For now, watching the bright, swirling lights of hyperspace, _they were alive. They both were. They were safe. And they were together._


End file.
